full title  The Sun Also Rises

author  Ernest Hemingway

type of work  Novel

genre  Modernist novel; travelogue; novel of disillusionment

language  English

time and place written  Mid-1920s, Paris

date of first publication  1926

publisher  Charles Scribner’s Sons

narrator  Jake Barnes

point of view  Jake tells the entire story from his own point of view.

tone  Somber, detached, ironic, nostalgic

tense  Past

setting (time)  1924

setting (place)  The novel begins in Paris, France, moves to Pamplona, Spain, and concludes in Madrid, Spain.

protagonist  Jake

major conflict  Jake is in love with Lady Brett Ashley, but they cannot maintain a relationship because he was rendered impotent by a war wound. Jake loses numerous friendships and has his life repeatedly disrupted because of his loyalty to Brett, who has a destructive series of love affairs with other men.

rising action  Jake, Brett, and their friends pursue a dissipated life in Paris; Jake introduces Brett to Robert Cohn; Brett and Cohn have an affair; Cohn follows Brett to Pamplona.

climax  The jilted Cohn beats up Mike and Jake, and afterward Pedro Romero.

falling action  Jake and his friends leave Spain; Jake enjoys the solitude of San Sebastian; Brett wires Jake to rescue her in Madrid after forcing Romero to leave her.

themes  The aimlessness of the Lost Generation; male insecurity; the destructiveness of sex

motifs  The failure of communication; excessive drinking; false friendships

symbols  Bullfighting

foreshadowing  The behavior of the bulls repeatedly foreshadows the actions of the people in the novel.

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